Pinot Noir

A delightful partner to a classic French onion soup or rare roast fillet with tangy horseradish sauce. A simple pasta with roasted baby tomatoes, fresh basil and feta. Coal-roasted game fish or seared tuna. Strong matured cheeses, including parmesan and gruberg from Klein River. Like most Pinot Noirs of quality, this wine is already delicious now, but will gain savoury, complex aromas and flavours with a few years of ageing.

The Ghost Corner range was inspired by the extreme coastal area around Cape Agulhas near Elim, known as ‘Spookdraai’, where many ships have been wrecked. Folklore has it that the ghosts of many sailors who perished through the years can be seen wandering the wild waters. These wines are as intriguing and extreme as the story of their origin at the southernmost tip of the Cape winelands.

Malolactic fermentation is completed in the barrel and maturation takes place over 10 months. 20% 1st fill, 20% 2nd fill, 20% 3rd fill, 20% 4th fill and 20% 5th fill tight-grain barrels with a medium toast.

Grapes are hand-harvested between 22.8–23.8°B, of which 15% whole clusters are added to some of the tanks with a natural fermentation taking place, while other tanks are inoculated for fermentation. During fermentation, gentle extraction takes place with one pumpover a day and two manual punchdowns of the grape cap. A maximum temperature of 27°C is reached. On completion of fermentation, grapes are pressed and transferred into 228l French oak barrels.

Winemaker David Nieuwoudt created the Ghost Corner brand in 2007, initially starting off with a Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc and adding three new wines in 2012: The Bowline, a Sauvignon blanc and Semillon blend; Ghost Corner Pinot Noir; and Wild Ferment Sauvignon Blanc, a Sauvignon blanc naturally fermented in older barrels. Every year David selects a small quantity of grapes from vineyards in the Elim ward near Cape Agulhas on the southernmost tip of Africa. Ghost Corner takes its name from this treacherous coastline where more than 130 ships have been shipwrecked through the ages. The deep lime-rich soil with plentiful slate and gravel deposits in Elim’s maritime climate gives rise to exceptional white wines.